Top public elementary with neighborhood feel?

[Anonymous]

so much can change between 1st grade and high school. for some families, an unexpected move away. for others, an increase in income or financial aid makes private high school a workable option. the 5-12 charter school route. dcps application high schools. this year macarthur was a popular alternative to eastern. high school works itself out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Budget is very important here.

The Capitol Hill elementary schools are great— Ludlow-Taylor, Maury, Chisholm, Payne, Brent (though they’re in a swing space for 2 years), and the neighborhood is wonderful. But your money is not going to go as far as the burbs and you’ll have less space. The trade off (particularly commute/walking/proximity to H, Eastern Market, downtown) is worth it to many but it’s pricey.

No, they aren't great. They're DCPS schools and they're just OK. All you need to do to understand what I'm talking about is visit Mathnasium on Penn. Ave SE after school on a weekday. The place is packed with Ludlow, Maury, Brent and Payne students mainly from families seeking extra math challenge. Nothing was hard enough for my kids at Brent in the upper grades, not math, not English, not social studies, not science. They weren't given remotely acceptable writing instruction. The school was fun and friendly, but great academically it was not. Without a law on GT education in DC or any formal programming for advanced learners in elementary school and lower per capita outlays for schools mainly serving high SES families than Title 1 schools in the District, DCPS ES programs can only be so good. You get sick of fund-raising in DCPS fast. You get tired of inexperienced and not terribly motivated teachers and iffy principals.

Being the parent of a strong student can be challenging at these schools because they can get overlooked. However, we have noticed a bit of an increase in the willingness to differentiate in the last few years but it’s often just about occasional harder worksheets or iready assignments. One instance of pull outs for a group of kids who were way above grade level in math. Re the 4th/5th combo model, the school has been sharing data showing increases in growth and scores for 5th graders compared to the prior model. They definitely believe kids are learning better under this new model even though it’s counterintuitive. I don’t know if it will change our decision when the time comes but it’s interesting.

I think what they are actually showing you is that not all UMC kids can leave Brent now because the lottery is SO much harder than it used to be, so the average 4th grade CAPE of a student who stays is significantly higher than it was even 4 years ago (nearly a point). Unsurprisingly... those same kids now do better in 5th as well. But they still do much worse than 4th graders. It has nothing to do with the US model and that is self-serving BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Budget is very important here.

The Capitol Hill elementary schools are great— Ludlow-Taylor, Maury, Chisholm, Payne, Brent (though they’re in a swing space for 2 years), and the neighborhood is wonderful. But your money is not going to go as far as the burbs and you’ll have less space. The trade off (particularly commute/walking/proximity to H, Eastern Market, downtown) is worth it to many but it’s pricey.

No, they aren't great. They're DCPS schools and they're just OK. All you need to do to understand what I'm talking about is visit Mathnasium on Penn. Ave SE after school on a weekday. The place is packed with Ludlow, Maury, Brent and Payne students mainly from families seeking extra math challenge. Nothing was hard enough for my kids at Brent in the upper grades, not math, not English, not social studies, not science. They weren't given remotely acceptable writing instruction. The school was fun and friendly, but great academically it was not. Without a law on GT education in DC or any formal programming for advanced learners in elementary school and lower per capita outlays for schools mainly serving high SES families than Title 1 schools in the District, DCPS ES programs can only be so good. You get sick of fund-raising in DCPS fast. You get tired of inexperienced and not terribly motivated teachers and iffy principals.

I think your experience may have more to do with the situation at Brent that has been discussed a lot on this forum - combining 4th and 5th, lots of attrition in 5th etc.

I think parents do Mathnasium or outside tutoring for a variety of reasons, sometimes bc their kid needs an extra push, sometimes bc their kid is bored, sometimes bc the parents want their kids to be the best. If you drive around the suburbs there are Mathnasium and Kumon centers all over the place so I think they’ll open up wherever a certain type parents with disposable income are living.

All that to say every school is different and every 4th/5th grade team I am sure is different too. I think a lot of it has to do with individual kids, some of whom may not push themselves, regardless of which school they were at, and some of whom would push themselves and sign up for all the things and excel wherever they attend.

Public schools in DC have debate, robotics club, book clubs, music, theater etc. IMO, kids that have good attendance, do all the work, sign up for things etc, they are learning just as much as their suburban counterparts.

I have always been a bit confused by what I read here about so many kids attending Mathnasium. If your child needs extra support, that makes complete sense. But, I'm not sure why elementary students need to work so far ahead--for what? I have two in DCPS (upper elementary and middle), and neither school is considered very highly regarded by DCUM standards, but my kids have had good math instruction and get 5s on CAPE without any outside formalized supplementing. My older is on track to do geometry in 8th, and that feels like plenty.

Most of them are not working that far ahead but doing just enough to not fall behind, which can be fatal in math.

Clearly, your kids have sufficient cognitive ability, exec function, and internal motivation to excel with decent school instruction alone. Many kids are lacking in one or more of these areas and thus need out-of-school structure to stay on track, though perhaps not perpetually.

Now - the folks sending their kids to, e.g., AOPS and/or doing Beast Academy are actually looking to push their kids “ahead,” though with more an emphasis on developing conceptual depth (much of which doesn’t fully manifest on elementary-level math testing, e.g. CAPE or MAP math). This may also apply to folks doing math enrichment via JHU/CTY, But this is generally a different crowd than the folks using Mathnasium or Kumon.

I’d much rather be in your position: kids with inherently strong math skills so no need to supplement out of school, but optionality to do so as desired based on THEIR goals.

NP. I understand getting remedial help for students who are struggling. But the PP literally said that the “Mathnasium on Penn. Ave SE … is packed with Ludlow, Maury, Brent and Payne students … from families seeking extra math challenge” because “Nothing” at the public schools is “hard enough for [their] kids.” That doesn’t sound like remediation.

That’s a fair point, but when I say fall “behind” I don’t mean that those kids are in risk a needing remediation to keep up with DCPS school math, but falling behind the (more national/global) standard they’ll need to meet in order excel in advanced math courses in the out years. I guess that’s “ahead” of DCPS, but not really “ahead” in the same sense as an AOPS-trained, or an (advanced) RSM kid might be.

And understand this to be the case also based on interactions with families that frequent the same Mathnasium center on Penn Ave.

Our advanced to very advanced kids attend Mathnasium. I think it's good to challenge them and they work 1-4 grade levels ahead, depending on the kid. If there was an AOPS or RSM nearby, I'd send them there instead, but I'm not trekking to the suburbs for that. I think because there is one single math enrichment provider on the Hill, drawing distinctions between the people who send there kids to it vs different much, much farther away providers is silly. K

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We really like Maury, near Lincoln Park. Ticks all the boxes you mention and easy commute to Pentagon via 695/395. We also wanted small classes and a tight knit feel and it’s been great. Only downside is the feeder pattern - middle school is fine (people vary on this but the number of people from Maury sending kids there is increasingly significantly each year, so would be even better by the time your kid gets there) but high school is a no for almost everyone.

+1. Neighborhood is wonderful too— feels like a small town but is minutes away from H Street, Union Market, etc. I bike to work downtown in 10 min. Highly recommend!

When we decided to move into the city from the 'burbs this was one of the first neighborhoods we looked at. Our impression was that it may be nice for a short and specific slice of your life but that's IT. Nothing but 30-something white folks pushing expensive strollers while their designer dog tagged along. We were horrified. If we wanted that, we'd stayed in NOVA. We quickly looked elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Budget is very important here.

The Capitol Hill elementary schools are great— Ludlow-Taylor, Maury, Chisholm, Payne, Brent (though they’re in a swing space for 2 years), and the neighborhood is wonderful. But your money is not going to go as far as the burbs and you’ll have less space. The trade off (particularly commute/walking/proximity to H, Eastern Market, downtown) is worth it to many but it’s pricey.

No, they aren't great. They're DCPS schools and they're just OK. All you need to do to understand what I'm talking about is visit Mathnasium on Penn. Ave SE after school on a weekday. The place is packed with Ludlow, Maury, Brent and Payne students mainly from families seeking extra math challenge. Nothing was hard enough for my kids at Brent in the upper grades, not math, not English, not social studies, not science. They weren't given remotely acceptable writing instruction. The school was fun and friendly, but great academically it was not. Without a law on GT education in DC or any formal programming for advanced learners in elementary school and lower per capita outlays for schools mainly serving high SES families than Title 1 schools in the District, DCPS ES programs can only be so good. You get sick of fund-raising in DCPS fast. You get tired of inexperienced and not terribly motivated teachers and iffy principals.

I think your experience may have more to do with the situation at Brent that has been discussed a lot on this forum - combining 4th and 5th, lots of attrition in 5th etc.

I think parents do Mathnasium or outside tutoring for a variety of reasons, sometimes bc their kid needs an extra push, sometimes bc their kid is bored, sometimes bc the parents want their kids to be the best. If you drive around the suburbs there are Mathnasium and Kumon centers all over the place so I think they’ll open up wherever a certain type parents with disposable income are living.

All that to say every school is different and every 4th/5th grade team I am sure is different too. I think a lot of it has to do with individual kids, some of whom may not push themselves, regardless of which school they were at, and some of whom would push themselves and sign up for all the things and excel wherever they attend.

Public schools in DC have debate, robotics club, book clubs, music, theater etc. IMO, kids that have good attendance, do all the work, sign up for things etc, they are learning just as much as their suburban counterparts.

I have always been a bit confused by what I read here about so many kids attending Mathnasium. If your child needs extra support, that makes complete sense. But, I'm not sure why elementary students need to work so far ahead--for what? I have two in DCPS (upper elementary and middle), and neither school is considered very highly regarded by DCUM standards, but my kids have had good math instruction and get 5s on CAPE without any outside formalized supplementing. My older is on track to do geometry in 8th, and that feels like plenty.

Most of them are not working that far ahead but doing just enough to not fall behind, which can be fatal in math.

Clearly, your kids have sufficient cognitive ability, exec function, and internal motivation to excel with decent school instruction alone. Many kids are lacking in one or more of these areas and thus need out-of-school structure to stay on track, though perhaps not perpetually.

Now - the folks sending their kids to, e.g., AOPS and/or doing Beast Academy are actually looking to push their kids “ahead,” though with more an emphasis on developing conceptual depth (much of which doesn’t fully manifest on elementary-level math testing, e.g. CAPE or MAP math). This may also apply to folks doing math enrichment via JHU/CTY, But this is generally a different crowd than the folks using Mathnasium or Kumon.

I’d much rather be in your position: kids with inherently strong math skills so no need to supplement out of school, but optionality to do so as desired based on THEIR goals.

NP. I understand getting remedial help for students who are struggling. But the PP literally said that the “Mathnasium on Penn. Ave SE … is packed with Ludlow, Maury, Brent and Payne students … from families seeking extra math challenge” because “Nothing” at the public schools is “hard enough for [their] kids.” That doesn’t sound like remediation.

That’s a fair point, but when I say fall “behind” I don’t mean that those kids are in risk a needing remediation to keep up with DCPS school math, but falling behind the (more national/global) standard they’ll need to meet in order excel in advanced math courses in the out years. I guess that’s “ahead” of DCPS, but not really “ahead” in the same sense as an AOPS-trained, or an (advanced) RSM kid might be.

And understand this to be the case also based on interactions with families that frequent the same Mathnasium center on Penn Ave.

Our advanced to very advanced kids attend Mathnasium. I think it's good to challenge them and they work 1-4 grade levels ahead, depending on the kid. If there was an AOPS or RSM nearby, I'd send them there instead, but I'm not trekking to the suburbs for that. I think because there is one single math enrichment provider on the Hill, drawing distinctions between the people who send there kids to it vs different much, much farther away providers is silly. K

Look, there’s simply no serious doubt as a matter of corporate strategy: AoPS/Beast Academy and RSM are aimed at a narrower demographic than Mathnasium. That’s just true, and so it makes perfect sense to draw those distinctions as a general matter, which I did above.

It’s completely unsurprising to me that there are kids at Mathnasium working at levels equal to, or even above, AoPS or RSM students—because of course that’s possible. But there are also kids at Mathnasium who are there for remediation or just to stay a bit ahead of school math. If you look at Mathnasium’s own website, they explicitly ask whether you’re looking for remediation, to stay on track, or to get ahead. That’s a very different approach than AoPS/Beast Academy, which is very clearly and narrowly targeted at “advanced”—though certainly not necessarily “gifted”—math students.

And it’s also true that Beast Academy/AoPS is most commonly consumed through the online program or the paper-based workbooks, meaning most users are not traveling to an AoPS center but using it as a home-based curriculum. So the “travel” point isn’t particularly relevant. And let’s be clear: the kind of so-called “math-crazy” parents the original poster had in mind are far more likely to live out in areas like Vienna (near an AoPS center), Bethesda (near an RSM), or Gaithersburg (also near an AoPS center). Those are the families who tend to build their lives around heavy math acceleration. They’re not especially concentrated on Capitol Hill. Which is another reason why the travel point just doesn’t land in this context.

And of course, the original question suggested that families “running to Mathnasium” were somehow all looking to advance their kids in math in an excessive way. My point was the opposite: you can’t assume that. For many families, “getting ahead” just means staying ahead of the DCPS math curriculum—which, frankly, is where their kids need to be if they want to be on track for success in later years. That’s a big difference from trying to push a child into the stratosphere as a math prodigy. Parents truly aiming for that kind of trajectory are the ones who tend to lean more toward the AoPS/RSM model, and those families are often perfectly comfortable using AoPS at home—since that’s how the majority of the program is designed to be delivered anyway.

So if AoPS and Mathnasium themselves draw these distinctions, it would be odd for us not to do the same. What I find more “silly,” frankly, is to take your particular family’s experience and treat it as the broad picture. I was speaking at the general level, with evidence to back it up. You were speaking about your own kids, who are clearly thriving, as if that rebuts the general pattern. It doesn’t. Both statements can be true.

[Anonymous]

As an American who grew up overseas after early elementary in the states… I’m very happy with beast academy but surely there’s a medium between the subterranean expectations at my kid’s DCPS and preparation for math Olympiad. I don’t remember expectations being this low in my VERY poor, rural district as a young kid but I was, again, very young.

I just want my kid to be ready for AP calc AB in 10th grade and to get a 4. I’m guessing the answer is “move somewhere with gifted and talented” but that probably shouldn’t be the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an American who grew up overseas after early elementary in the states… I’m very happy with beast academy but surely there’s a medium between the subterranean expectations at my kid’s DCPS and preparation for math Olympiad. I don’t remember expectations being this low in my VERY poor, rural district as a young kid but I was, again, very young.

I just want my kid to be ready for AP calc AB in 10th grade and to get a 4. I’m guessing the answer is “move somewhere with gifted and talented” but that probably shouldn’t be the answer.

If you went to school in 80/90s, it’s pretty much been downhill all around since then Even your poor rural school probably had real textbooks, nailed the basics of math/grammar, graded penmanship, taught cursive, and didn’t tolerate the sort of misbehavior/disruption common in today’s classrooms. That would be a luxury product on the Hill!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an American who grew up overseas after early elementary in the states… I’m very happy with beast academy but surely there’s a medium between the subterranean expectations at my kid’s DCPS and preparation for math Olympiad. I don’t remember expectations being this low in my VERY poor, rural district as a young kid but I was, again, very young.

I just want my kid to be ready for AP calc AB in 10th grade and to get a 4. I’m guessing the answer is “move somewhere with gifted and talented” but that probably shouldn’t be the answer.

If you went to school in 80/90s, it’s pretty much been downhill all around since then Even your poor rural school probably had real textbooks, nailed the basics of math/grammar, graded penmanship, taught cursive, and didn’t tolerate the sort of misbehavior/disruption common in today’s classrooms. That would be a luxury product on the Hill!

My curse was to move from the states to a place where public education had a series of extremely stressful competitive exams- where I did very well, but most others do not (and there’s more gaming/politics than you might think, you had to send estimated scores to schools and there were politics involved). I don’t think that level of pressure is optimal either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Budget is very important here.

The Capitol Hill elementary schools are great— Ludlow-Taylor, Maury, Chisholm, Payne, Brent (though they’re in a swing space for 2 years), and the neighborhood is wonderful. But your money is not going to go as far as the burbs and you’ll have less space. The trade off (particularly commute/walking/proximity to H, Eastern Market, downtown) is worth it to many but it’s pricey.

No, they aren't great. They're DCPS schools and they're just OK. All you need to do to understand what I'm talking about is visit Mathnasium on Penn. Ave SE after school on a weekday. The place is packed with Ludlow, Maury, Brent and Payne students mainly from families seeking extra math challenge. Nothing was hard enough for my kids at Brent in the upper grades, not math, not English, not social studies, not science. They weren't given remotely acceptable writing instruction. The school was fun and friendly, but great academically it was not. Without a law on GT education in DC or any formal programming for advanced learners in elementary school and lower per capita outlays for schools mainly serving high SES families than Title 1 schools in the District, DCPS ES programs can only be so good. You get sick of fund-raising in DCPS fast. You get tired of inexperienced and not terribly motivated teachers and iffy principals.

I think your experience may have more to do with the situation at Brent that has been discussed a lot on this forum - combining 4th and 5th, lots of attrition in 5th etc.

I think parents do Mathnasium or outside tutoring for a variety of reasons, sometimes bc their kid needs an extra push, sometimes bc their kid is bored, sometimes bc the parents want their kids to be the best. If you drive around the suburbs there are Mathnasium and Kumon centers all over the place so I think they’ll open up wherever a certain type parents with disposable income are living.

All that to say every school is different and every 4th/5th grade team I am sure is different too. I think a lot of it has to do with individual kids, some of whom may not push themselves, regardless of which school they were at, and some of whom would push themselves and sign up for all the things and excel wherever they attend.

Public schools in DC have debate, robotics club, book clubs, music, theater etc. IMO, kids that have good attendance, do all the work, sign up for things etc, they are learning just as much as their suburban counterparts.

I have always been a bit confused by what I read here about so many kids attending Mathnasium. If your child needs extra support, that makes complete sense. But, I'm not sure why elementary students need to work so far ahead--for what? I have two in DCPS (upper elementary and middle), and neither school is considered very highly regarded by DCUM standards, but my kids have had good math instruction and get 5s on CAPE without any outside formalized supplementing. My older is on track to do geometry in 8th, and that feels like plenty.

This is an interesting topic, and probably not the one that this thread is for - but worth discussing. The debate and research behind pushing kids quickly into advanced levels of math, and their ability to retain the information they sped through. Several of the private schools around here don't allow kids to go past algebra in 8th - in contrast to DCPS which is now allowing kids to have the option of geometry, and BASIS of course which has it's own track entirely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an American who grew up overseas after early elementary in the states… I’m very happy with beast academy but surely there’s a medium between the subterranean expectations at my kid’s DCPS and preparation for math Olympiad. I don’t remember expectations being this low in my VERY poor, rural district as a young kid but I was, again, very young.

I just want my kid to be ready for AP calc AB in 10th grade and to get a 4. I’m guessing the answer is “move somewhere with gifted and talented” but that probably shouldn’t be the answer.

That's just a ludicrous kind of comment. Something like 85% of Calc AP test takers to this day are 11th or 12th grade.

You want to accelerate your kid into Calc AB in 10th grade. I bet in your VERY poor, rural district maybe 1 sophomore in the entire county took the AP Calc AB test in 10th grade back in the day.

To what end does it even matter if your kid takes it as a sophomore vs. as a junior...or even takes BC as a junior or senior and never takes AB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an American who grew up overseas after early elementary in the states… I’m very happy with beast academy but surely there’s a medium between the subterranean expectations at my kid’s DCPS and preparation for math Olympiad. I don’t remember expectations being this low in my VERY poor, rural district as a young kid but I was, again, very young.

I just want my kid to be ready for AP calc AB in 10th grade and to get a 4. I’m guessing the answer is “move somewhere with gifted and talented” but that probably shouldn’t be the answer.

Just try to get into BASIS. That's the answer for many of us and I'm very pleased. The bolded is the expectation for all the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Budget is very important here.

The Capitol Hill elementary schools are great— Ludlow-Taylor, Maury, Chisholm, Payne, Brent (though they’re in a swing space for 2 years), and the neighborhood is wonderful. But your money is not going to go as far as the burbs and you’ll have less space. The trade off (particularly commute/walking/proximity to H, Eastern Market, downtown) is worth it to many but it’s pricey.

No, they aren't great. They're DCPS schools and they're just OK. All you need to do to understand what I'm talking about is visit Mathnasium on Penn. Ave SE after school on a weekday. The place is packed with Ludlow, Maury, Brent and Payne students mainly from families seeking extra math challenge. Nothing was hard enough for my kids at Brent in the upper grades, not math, not English, not social studies, not science. They weren't given remotely acceptable writing instruction. The school was fun and friendly, but great academically it was not. Without a law on GT education in DC or any formal programming for advanced learners in elementary school and lower per capita outlays for schools mainly serving high SES families than Title 1 schools in the District, DCPS ES programs can only be so good. You get sick of fund-raising in DCPS fast. You get tired of inexperienced and not terribly motivated teachers and iffy principals.

I think your experience may have more to do with the situation at Brent that has been discussed a lot on this forum - combining 4th and 5th, lots of attrition in 5th etc.

I think parents do Mathnasium or outside tutoring for a variety of reasons, sometimes bc their kid needs an extra push, sometimes bc their kid is bored, sometimes bc the parents want their kids to be the best. If you drive around the suburbs there are Mathnasium and Kumon centers all over the place so I think they’ll open up wherever a certain type parents with disposable income are living.

All that to say every school is different and every 4th/5th grade team I am sure is different too. I think a lot of it has to do with individual kids, some of whom may not push themselves, regardless of which school they were at, and some of whom would push themselves and sign up for all the things and excel wherever they attend.

Public schools in DC have debate, robotics club, book clubs, music, theater etc. IMO, kids that have good attendance, do all the work, sign up for things etc, they are learning just as much as their suburban counterparts.

I have always been a bit confused by what I read here about so many kids attending Mathnasium. If your child needs extra support, that makes complete sense. But, I'm not sure why elementary students need to work so far ahead--for what? I have two in DCPS (upper elementary and middle), and neither school is considered very highly regarded by DCUM standards, but my kids have had good math instruction and get 5s on CAPE without any outside formalized supplementing. My older is on track to do geometry in 8th, and that feels like plenty.

This is an interesting topic, and probably not the one that this thread is for - but worth discussing. The debate and research behind pushing kids quickly into advanced levels of math, and their ability to retain the information they sped through. Several of the private schools around here don't allow kids to go past algebra in 8th - in contrast to DCPS which is now allowing kids to have the option of geometry, and BASIS of course which has it's own track entirely.

I slowed my kid down (to take calc senior year) after reading some of that research and am very pleased with the results. Scores are at the ceiling and my kid loves math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We really like Maury, near Lincoln Park. Ticks all the boxes you mention and easy commute to Pentagon via 695/395. We also wanted small classes and a tight knit feel and it’s been great. Only downside is the feeder pattern - middle school is fine (people vary on this but the number of people from Maury sending kids there is increasingly significantly each year, so would be even better by the time your kid gets there) but high school is a no for almost everyone.

+1. Neighborhood is wonderful too— feels like a small town but is minutes away from H Street, Union Market, etc. I bike to work downtown in 10 min. Highly recommend!

When we decided to move into the city from the 'burbs this was one of the first neighborhoods we looked at. Our impression was that it may be nice for a short and specific slice of your life but that's IT. Nothing but 30-something white folks pushing expensive strollers while their designer dog tagged along. We were horrified. If we wanted that, we'd stayed in NOVA. We quickly looked elsewhere.

Wow, you really missed out due to your bad judgment. Oh well, too bad for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We really like Maury, near Lincoln Park. Ticks all the boxes you mention and easy commute to Pentagon via 695/395. We also wanted small classes and a tight knit feel and it’s been great. Only downside is the feeder pattern - middle school is fine (people vary on this but the number of people from Maury sending kids there is increasingly significantly each year, so would be even better by the time your kid gets there) but high school is a no for almost everyone.

+1. Neighborhood is wonderful too— feels like a small town but is minutes away from H Street, Union Market, etc. I bike to work downtown in 10 min. Highly recommend!

When we decided to move into the city from the 'burbs this was one of the first neighborhoods we looked at. Our impression was that it may be nice for a short and specific slice of your life but that's IT. Nothing but 30-something white folks pushing expensive strollers while their designer dog tagged along. We were horrified. If we wanted that, we'd stayed in NOVA. We quickly looked elsewhere.

Where did you end up instead?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We really like Maury, near Lincoln Park. Ticks all the boxes you mention and easy commute to Pentagon via 695/395. We also wanted small classes and a tight knit feel and it’s been great. Only downside is the feeder pattern - middle school is fine (people vary on this but the number of people from Maury sending kids there is increasingly significantly each year, so would be even better by the time your kid gets there) but high school is a no for almost everyone.

+1. Neighborhood is wonderful too— feels like a small town but is minutes away from H Street, Union Market, etc. I bike to work downtown in 10 min. Highly recommend!

When we decided to move into the city from the 'burbs this was one of the first neighborhoods we looked at. Our impression was that it may be nice for a short and specific slice of your life but that's IT. Nothing but 30-something white folks pushing expensive strollers while their designer dog tagged along. We were horrified. If we wanted that, we'd stayed in NOVA. We quickly looked elsewhere.

Please take your racism elsewhere. Comment reported. It's 2025, that stuff isn't appreciated anymore loser.